South Pacific Metals Corp. has returned up to 12.8% copper, 0.30 g/t gold and 104 g/t silver from initial rock chip sampling outside the main resource boundary at the Kili Teke Copper-Gold Project in Hela Province, Papua New Guinea.

The high-grade copper result came from a massive sulphide unit mapped over 200 metres along a north-south fault contact on the western margin of the Central Porphyry. The work forms part of the first systematic exploration program conducted at the project in a decade, following South Pacific Metals acquiring 100% ownership from Harmony Gold (PNG) Exploration Limited in September 2023.

Initial sampling of a historic trench at the Ieru-Yalopi target area returned eight mineralised samples averaging 0.36% copper and 0.72 g/t gold, validating historical mineralisation. At Kwaki Creek within Ridge Gold to the east, a 205-sample soil grid has been completed alongside mapping that identified altered and mineralised outcrop.

“Kili Teke has been dormant for almost a decade, but the opportunity here was never in doubt. Our first exploration program has already found further encouraging evidence of strong mineralisation in several areas outside of historically drilled Central Porphyry.”

— Timo Jauristo, CEO of South Pacific Metals Corp.

Assay results for an additional 205 soil samples and 60 rock samples from the current exploration program remain pending.

“What stands out from this first program is that the geology is telling us the same story from two independent directions. On the western side we have strong outcrop exposure in the creek beds, including sulphide mineralisation we can trace along strike for a couple of hundred metres, which gives us real confidence in that area even before the balance of the assays are back.”

— Octavio Garcia, Exploration Manager of South Pacific Metals Corp.

South Pacific Metals anticipates defining drill-ready targets within the two priority areas by the end of October 2026, ahead of a planned maiden diamond drill program.

Read the full announcement: South Pacific Metals Returns up to 12.8% Copper from Outcrop Outside the Kili Teke Resource; Massive Sulphide Traced over 200 Metres